The present invention relates to gaming machines and in particular to rotating reel type gaming machines. The invention has been developed primarily for computerised, spinning reel video poker machines and will be described herein with reference to that application. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to that particular field of use and may be suitable for many other applications.
Gaming machines have long been known and are now one of the most common forms of gambling. One of the oldest and best known forms of gaming machines is the rotating reel type xe2x80x9cpoker machinexe2x80x9d. These machines use a series of three or more reels, each reel having symbols on its peripheral edge. The reels are rotated upon placing a bet and then stopped to produce an array of randomly selected symbols. Winnings are paid if the random combination of symbols matches one of the predetermined winning combinations.
Recently these gaming machines have been computerised with a video display replacing the physically rotating reels. The display screen presents an array of symbols in five columns and three rows equating to the symbols that would normally be seen on the five rotating reels of an equivalent old style mechanical machine. Computerised machines have allowed players to bet on combinations of symbols other than just those in the central row which was traditionally the only line of symbols considered in the mechanical machines. Today these machines will typically offer players the opportunity to simultaneously bet on the combinations in various xe2x80x9cpaylinesxe2x80x9d (as they are known) extending through the array. Eventually, all the practical xe2x80x9cpaylinesxe2x80x9d have become standard on most machines and game developers have looked to subsidiary or secondary games in an effort to further increase gaming enjoyment for players. A secondary game might typically involve a simulated horse race or a moving symbol that randomly changes symbols in the array of the primary game. The secondary games are often referred to as xe2x80x9cfeaturesxe2x80x9d. The feature would appear upon some trigger event such as a predetermined outcome in the primary game. The feature game can be used to alter the xe2x80x9cvolatilityxe2x80x9d of the gaming machine to maintain the players interest and enhance the gaming experience.
The xe2x80x9cvolatilityxe2x80x9d the gaming machine refers to the expected frequency of wins and the corresponding amount paid for each win. Overtime, all gaming machines return a set percentage of the bets received as winnings. Otherwise the machine would not make a profit. However, a machine with high volatility will return this percentage through fewer wins of high value and a low volatility machine provides more wins of less value.
Unfortunately, this generally gives the gaming machine only two set levels of volatility, that is, the volatility of the pi game and the volatility of the feature game. Therefore, the gaming machine designer has no scope to vary the volatility in an incremental manner in an effort to fiber chance the gaming experience.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative.
According to a fast aspect, the present invention provides a gaming machine adapted to:
display an array of randomly selected symbols and pay winnings on the occurrence of predetermined winning combinations of symbols, wherein upon a trigger event, the number of symbols displayed increases so that the machine can also pay winnings on winning combinations resulting from the increased number of symbols.
In one form, a single additional symbol is added to the array in response to the trigger event. However, two or more symbols may be added in response to the trigger event and in some forms an entirely new and separate array of symbols may appear in response to the trigger.
According to a second aspect, the present invention provides a gaming machine adapted to:
display an array of randomly selected symbols and pay winnings on the occurrence of predetermined winning combinations of the symbols; wherein,
at least one column of the array has more than three of the symbols; or,
at least one row of the array has more than five of the symbols.
It will be appreciated that the term xe2x80x9cpay winningsxe2x80x9d encompasses a machine that dispenses legal tender or tokens that can later be redeemed for money, as well as a machine that awards gaming credits which can be used to bet on future games or converted to money. Typically, computerised gaming machines will pay wings by awarding credits that are tallied on a credit meter displayed on the video screen. Betting with electronically recorded credits is more convenient than physically feeding coins or tokens into the machine with each single gaming operation.
By adopting an array that extends beyond the typical five column, three row array, the machine can offer paylines that inherently have a better chance of achieving a winning combination, such as three matching symbols. By varying the number of additional symbols added to a five column, three row array and controlling when and how the player may gain access to paylines that include the additional symbol, the game designer is able to make subtle variations in the volatility.
Preferably, the array initially has five columns and three rows; and,
one or more additional symbols are added to extend the array upon a predetermined trigger event. In one particularly preferred form, the trigger event is a predetermined combination of the symbols in the array.
According to a third aspect, the present invention provides a gaming machine adapted to:
display an array of randomly selected symbols and pay winnings on the occurrence of predetermined winning combinations of the symbols; wherein
at least one additional symbol is added to extend the array upon a predetermined trigger event. As discussed above, the trigger event may conveniently be one or more predetermined combinations of the symbols in the array or it may simply be a player actuated trigger provided on the control console.
According to a fourth aspect, the present invention provides a gaming machine adapted to:
display an initial array of randomly selected symbols and pay winnings on the occurrence of predetermined winning combinations of the symbols in the initial array; wherein,
at least one additional array of random symbols becomes available for gaming upon a predetermined trigger event.
Again the trigger event could be one or more trigger combinations of symbols occurring in the initial array.
In a further preferred form a trigger combination in any of the additional arrays can in turn trigger still further arrays to become available for gaming.
By providing an additional array of symbols, the machine can be configured to give the player a second chance of winning or allow two standard arrays to be played simultaneously. Furthermore, if a predetermined combination of symbols appear in the second array, the machine can provide a third array and so on.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides a gaming machine adapted to:
display a random array of symbols and pay winnings on the occurrence of predetermined winning combinations of the symbols; wherein,
during use, the array is capable of adopting a non-rectangular configuration.
For a significant number of players the feature games may marginally enhance gaming enjoyment however, the primary source of enjoyment is provided by the basic game which has traditionally adhered to the five column, three row format. The present invention provides scope for significant increases in gaming enjoyment by allowing incremental departures from the traditional five column, three row array. With the extension of rows and/or columns, the player has the option of playing extended lines of symbols which would have correspondingly different probabilities of returning a winning combination and therefore a chance for a higher winning payout.